Tuesday 29 October 2013

#CraftBlogClub The Halloween Challenge...

Well, the big day is here - the next reveal of our challenge projects and, my God, what a tough month it's been over at Life is Peachy towers!

I hope you have all enjoyed this month's challenge - which was to create a Halloween decoration, using a craft method you have not used before (or, in some cases, haven't used for a very long time)!  I've seen a few of the results already and they are looking FAB!  Please please link up your post below - I will RT these all this time, I WILL!


Soo....what did I do??  Well, originally I wanted to learn crochet, I absolutely love the little amigurumi crochet toys that you see about, so I wanted to make a little bat.  I started to learn...on Saturday!  I found a perfectly clear, concise YouTube video and learnt how to make a Chain and a Single Crochet.  I had been warned that it can take knitters longer to learn crochet and, I must admit, it felt so strange just using one hook; but I felt I was slowly getting the hang of it!


Sadly, though, my getting the hang of it, in amongst everything else I have to start/finish/do at the moment, was not going to create a beautiful bat in time so...after much deliberation and with the #CraftBlogClub clock ticking....I decided to sew a felt bat for Tuesday's challenge, aided by my ever helpful Mr Peachy.  And whilst we may be chalk and cheese in many departments, it seems we mould well like Crafty Power Rangers, when it comes to sewing projects.  Introducing...Lestat The Bat!



Made from two pieces of light and dark brown felt, Lestat is handstitched with a vibrant orange thread and lightly filled with toy stuffing.  His eyes are two buttons from a very old mac I used to own and his wings are attached with simple threading at the back.  The only disclaimer is that he is most definitely NOT a flanimal, though were watching the Ricky Gervais film Ghost Town, when he was conceived!

I hope you like him - I've not given up on the crochet and I'm a little sad I didn't manage to get it together in time; but when I'm feeling more confident with crochet, I'm planning to pop out a little animal friend, which might just be when you least expect it!

Have fun this Halloween, whatever you're doing - I shall be curling up with some freshly baked Pumpkin Bread and Butter Pudding and getting my teeth stuck into the new programme, Dracula, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who looks rather delicious in the ad!

Don't forget to link up your Halloween craft posts below - the link is open for one week and I cannot WAIT to see what everyone has come up with!

The Next #CraftBlogClub Challenge
Well, without further ado, let's unveil the next challenge!  I would like to introduce The #CraftBlogClub Secret Santa Challenge!

Now I have mentioned some Christmas ideas before and lovely Laura from Made Peachy suggested a Secret Santa for us lot.  So I thought; Hey, why not turn Christmas into a challenge!

The rules are, you make a Christmas gift for someone and send it to them - you have free reign to do what you like, it can be something you know you excel at, one of your familiar products, the only thing is - it has to be in some way personalised! And, as I know us crafty lot are going to be ridiculously busy in the lead up to Christmas - I have decided to run this challenge from now up until Christmas Eve, giving everyone plenty of time to get involved and get making.

I will be in charge of pairing up and emailing so IF you want to take part in this challenge, PLEASE email me your name, email address and postal address (missemmaberry@gmail.com) and I will start listing and pairing.  I will keep the listing open until next week and will email your Secret Santa recipient by the end of next week.  As ever, I will open up a linky in the lead up to Christmas and it would be great if you could write a post about the gift you made AND the gift you received!

I hope everyone wants to take part, I think it will be a lovely way to end the year with the #CraftBlogClub community and I'm hopeful that next year will bring some even more exciting things for us!  Now get emailing and get thinking!

Stay Crafty!

E x
Come Join In

5 comments:

Icy Sedgwick said...

Your bat is so cute!

Unknown said...

Well done Em! The bat looks great. I promise crochet is worth persevering with. I'm currently teaching my mum who is a great knitter and I think it is harder to learn than knitting in the early stages but once you get the hang of it you literally won't want to stop!

I can't seem to get the linky to work to add my #craftblogclub project but here is the link anyway.

http://itsemmamade.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/handmade-monday-halloween-intarsia.html

Apologies for missing out on #craftblogclub last night, I'm at my folks for a few days at the moment. I'm up for Secret Santa if it does go ahead, but happy to go with whatever you decide. I'll email you my details.

Lots of #craftbloglove,

Emma

Unknown said...

Count me in for the secret santa, have emailed.

And thanks for the round up too, sorry I missed it last night.

Katherine Hajer said...

I love that bat! Definitely keep going with the crochet -- it helps with knitting beyond being a good thing to know in its own right.

The linky tools don't seem to be working, but here's a link to the blog post about the wire jig work I did:

http://diy-eyrea.blogspot.ca/2013/10/craftblogclub-samhain-necklace.html

Unknown said...

Guys thank you so much for your entries - sorry it looks like the link has temporarily expired, I'm just trying to sort out now! I love these amazing entries Emma and Katherine - thanks so much and I will keep going with crochet, once I have a little more time to focus on it! Because it was fun! xx